Method of and system for reducing power required for an electric brake to maintain a static force

ABSTRACT

A brake system includes a piston for applying an output force to a brake, a motor operatively connected to the piston and a controller receiving a braking request and sending a brake force signal commanding a level of brake force to the motor to cause the motor to move the piston and apply an output force to the brake. When the brake force signal remains at a first level for a given period of time, the controller automatically decreases, or increases and then decreases, the level of the brake force signal from a first value. Also a method of controlling such a brake system.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/662,388, filed Mar. 17, 2005, the entire contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is directed toward a method of reducing the power required by an electric brake for maintaining a static force, and to a system for performing this method, and, more specifically, toward a method using the internal friction of an electric brake to assist, rather than resist, the application of a static force, and a system for performing this method.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Electric brakes include one or more electromagnetic actuators (EMA's) for producing a braking force. EMA's may include a motor that turns a ballnut/ballscrew assembly to change the position of a piston and develop an output force at the outward end of the piston that presses against a brake. Such electric brakes may be used, for example, on aircraft wheels, and will be described herein in terms of use on an aircraft. The invention discussed herein, is not, however, limited to use on aircraft and may be used in connection with other electric braking systems as well.

Internal friction in an electric brake, in the ballnut/ballscrew assembly, for example, must be overcome to move the EMA piston. Therefore the output force exerted by a piston against a brake is generally less than the force developed by the motor. Up to 30% of the motor force output may be required to overcome internal friction. Even when applying a static force, the internal friction in the EMA resists the EMA in maintaining the desired force against the brake. Therefore, the level of power delivered to the EMA must be adequate to overcome the internal friction of the EMA and produce the desired output force at the piston.

Aircraft brakes are often required to apply and hold a large static force, for example, when testing the engines prior to takeoff. Electromechanically actuated brakes require power to hold a static force. The power required increases (or decreases) as the square of the desired force. Moreover, the higher the power level applied, the more heating will be experienced by the EMA. It would therefore be desirable to reduce EMA power requirements when maintaining a desired force output.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

These problems and others are addressed by the present invention, a first aspect of which is a method practiced in a brake system with a piston that applies an output force to a brake based on a brake force command. The method includes monitoring the brake force command and, after the command has remained at a substantially constant level for a given period of time, automatically decreasing the brake force command.

Another aspect of the invention is a method for use in a brake system that includes a piston for applying an output force to a brake, a motor operatively connected to the piston, and a controller receiving a braking request and sending a brake force signal commanding a level of brake force to the motor to cause the motor to move the piston and apply an output force to the brake. With this method, when the brake force signal remains at a first level for a given period of time, the level of the brake force signal is automatically increased from a first value and thereafter automatically decreased.

An additional aspect of the invention is a brake system that includes a piston for applying an output force to a brake, a motor operatively connected to the piston, and a controller sending a brake force signal the motor to produce a force with the piston. When the brake force signal remains at a first level for a given period of time, the controller automatically increases the brake force signal, and thereafter automatically decreases the brake force signal.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

These features and aspects of the invention and others will be better understood after a reading of the detailed description provided below together with the following drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 schematically shows an electric brake applying force against a brake disk stack; and

FIG. 2 is a graph illustrating the relationship between commanded brake force, output brake force and power consumption in the electric brake of FIG. 1.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Referring now to the drawings, wherein the showings are for purposes of illustrating an embodiment of the invention only and not for the purpose of limiting same, FIG. 1 illustrates an electric brake 10 that includes an electromagnetic actuator 12 comprising a motor 14, a motor output shaft 16 driving gears represented by gear 18, a ballnut/ballscrew assembly comprising a ballnut 20 engaging gear 18 and a ballscrew 22 that moves in a first axial direction when ballnut 20 turns in a first direction and in a second axial direction when ballnut 20 turns in a second direction. Piston or actuator 24 moves with ballscrew 22 to selectively apply pressure against a brake disk stack 26 comprising a plurality of rotors 28 connected to a wheel and a plurality of stators 30 fixed to a stationary support structure.

In operation, controller 32 sends a brake force command to motor 14 on line 15 which causes output shaft 16 and gear 18 to rotate and apply an output force against brake disk stack 26 via the ballscrew/ballnut assembly 20, 22. This command may be generated in response to a pilot action, such as depressing a brake pedal, or automatically by the controller itself or another aircraft computer. The internal friction of the ballnut/ballscrew assembly 20, 22 prevents the force applied by piston 24 against brake disk stack 26 from equaling the commanded brake force. As illustrated in FIG. 2, at time t1, when the commanded brake force 40 has been achieved by motor 12, the output force, 42 applied by piston 24 to brake disk stack 26 is less than the commanded force. Power consumption 44 is also relatively high at time t1.

When the force command has been unchanging for some period of time t2-t1, a few seconds or less, for example, controller 32 increases the brake force command, such as by applying one or a series of command impulses 34, illustrated in FIG. 2, to motor 14 on line 15. These impulses break through the internal friction of the EMA and increase the output force to a level greater than or equal to the commanded force. When the command force returns to its pre-impulse level, the output force remains at or above the command force, and power consumption drops significantly.

After the command impulses, the internal friction of the EMA is assisting the output force rather than opposing it. In other words, instead of motor 14 working against the friction of the gears 18 in order to turn the gears further in a “forward” direction, the required output force has been exceeded and the brake stack, in effect, is now working against the internal friction of the gears to move the gears “backwards.” A lower power level is required to resist this “backward” movement. Thus, by exceeding the commanded brake force and then dropping back to about the originally commanded brake force, the power consumption, and thus heat generation, will be less than if the command force had been held at a constant level.

In a broad sense, the present invention is directed to using the internal friction of the braking system to reduce power requirements. As discussed above, in some systems it may be desirable to ensure that a least a certain amount of braking is maintained. In those cases, the braking command is increased after it has stayed relatively constant for a certain amount of time. This may provide the added advantage of producing a higher output force than was being produced before the brake command was increased. However, the benefits of the present invention can also be obtained by monitoring a level of a braking command and reducing the braking command by a predetermined amount after the braking command has remained relatively constant for a period of time. Under these circumstances as well, power consumption can be reduced as the internal friction of the electric brake will no longer be working against the motor.

The present invention has been described in terms of various embodiments. However, obvious modifications and additions to these embodiments will become apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art upon a reading of the foregoing disclosure. It is intended that all such obvious modifications and additions form a part of the present invention to the extent that they fall within the scope of the several claims appended hereto. 

1. In a brake system comprising a piston for applying an output force to a brake based on a commanded brake force, a method comprising the steps of: monitoring the commanded brake force; and after the commanded brake force has remained at a substantially constant level for a given period of time, automatically decreasing the commanded brake force.
 2. The method of claim 1 wherein said step of automatically decreasing the commanded brake force comprises the step of automatically decreasing the commanded brake force by a predetermined amount.
 3. The method of claim 1 including the additional step of, after the commanded brake force has remained at a substantially constant level for a given period of time, automatically increasing the commanded brake force before automatically decreasing the commanded brake force.
 4. The method of claim 3 wherein said step of decreasing the commanded brake force comprises the step of decreasing the commanded brake force to about said substantially constant level.
 5. The method of claim 3 wherein said step of automatically increasing the commanded brake force comprises the step of applying at least one impulse to the commanded brake force.
 6. The method of claim 3 wherein said step of automatically increasing the commanded brake force comprises the step of applying a series of impulses to the commanded brake force.
 7. The method of claim 4 wherein said step of automatically increasing the commanded brake force comprises the step of applying at least one impulse to the commanded brake force.
 8. The method of claim 4 wherein said step of automatically increasing the commanded brake force comprises the step of applying at least one impulse to the commanded brake force.
 9. In a brake system comprising: a piston for applying an output force to a brake; a motor operatively connected to the piston; and a controller receiving a braking request and sending a brake force signal commanding a level of brake force to the motor to cause the motor to move the piston and apply an output force to the brake; a method comprising the steps of: when the brake force signal remains at a first level for a given period of time, automatically increasing the level of the brake force signal from a first value; and thereafter automatically decreasing the level of the brake force signal.
 10. The method of claim 9 wherein said step of automatically decreasing the level of the brake force signal comprises the step of decreasing the level of the brake force signal to substantially the first level.
 11. The method of claim 9 wherein said step of automatically increasing the level of the brake force signal comprises the step of applying at least one impulse to the brake force signal.
 12. The method of claim 9 wherein said step of automatically increasing the level of the brake force signal comprises the step of applying a series of impulses to the brake force signal.
 13. The method of claim 10 wherein said step of automatically increasing the level of brake force signal comprises the step of applying at least one impulse to the brake force signal.
 14. The method of claim 10 wherein said step of automatically increasing the level of the brake force signal comprises the step of applying a series of impulses to the brake force signal.
 15. The method of claim 9 wherein the brake system includes gears between the motor and the piston, the gears adding an amount of friction to the braking system, wherein said step of increasing the brake force signal comprises the step of increasing the brake force signal to increase the commanded brake force by an amount greater the amount of friction.
 16. A brake control system comprising: a piston for applying an output force to a brake; a motor operatively connected to the piston; and a controller sending a brake force signal the motor to cause the motor to move the piston, the controller, when the brake force signal remains at a first level for a given period of time, automatically increasing the brake force signal, and thereafter automatically decreasing the brake force signal.
 17. The brake control system of claim 16 wherein after the controller automatically increases the brake force signal the controller automatically decreases the brake force signal to about the first level.
 18. The brake force control system of claim 16 wherein, when the brake force signal remains at a first level for a given period of time, applies at least one impulse to the brake force signal.
 19. The brake force control system of claim 16 wherein, when the brake force signal remains at a first level for a given period of time, applies a series of impulses to the brake force signal. 